IN two posts at Reclaiming Beauty (here and here), Kidist Paulos Asrat reflects upon changes at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. The hospital recently removed the image of St. Michael the Archangel from its logo. The image was inspired in part by an Italian statue of the saint which was found encrusted with dirt in a second hand shop on Queen street in the 19th century and has long stood restored in the hospital’s lobby.

Below is a modernist addition to the hospital funded by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, who has close ties with the Chinese government. The hospital’s insipid slogan is now “St. Michael’s, Inspired Care, Inspiring Science,” sure to offend no one in multicultural Canada.

— Comments —

Paul writes:

I suppose we should be glad the painting exits.  It is pretty.  But it was painted on a building as a somewhat garish advertisement because it was cheap.  It will not last as the sculpture on the entrance has lasted.  It was cheaper than employing highly skilled craftsmen to craft a carving or install some sort of stonework.  An illegal can learn how to use spray paint or to perform one of a series of menial tasks to generate the mural .  The addition is also clearly the result of an intent to save money.  It is antiseptic (generated by untalented or rushed architects) and made with cheap materials and constructed by low-skilled craftsmen.  The floor and walls are not wood.  The walls are particle board and the flooring is a laminate.  Glass is cheap.  Are the handrails going to stay safely connected to the glass for many years?  No.  The interior was not built to last.  It is consistent with our throw-away culture, where there is too much money available for the wrong things.  There is money for fads, constant renovation (in fact, repair of cheap renovation), and wood for executive offices but not for paying nurses to dress in white instead of hideous pajamas.

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